Students unaware of health center offerings despite move

The University of Houston Student Health Center has a new location, but not enough students are aware of it, says Associate Director of the Student Health Center Rodrick Jordan.

The new facility is located inside Health and Biomedical Sciences Building 2, off Calhoun Road and Wheeler Avenue near the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center. Jordan said awareness has always been an issue for the Student Health Center.

“We found out that students had gone their entire academic career and never knew we had a health center,” Jordan said. “If they did know, they knew very little.”

History junior Ronnie Garcia says her issue is not knowing where the health center is or the services it provides.

“I don’t go because I don’t know where (the Student Health Center) is,” Garcia said. “I don’t know much about what they offer.”

History junior Kirsten Hilson is uninsured and has never been to the Student Health Center, she says, because of concerns with financial burdens.

The center is purchasing new medical equipment, including a new surgical light for the treatment room, blood pressure equipment and a weight scale better suited for the disabled, Jordan said. The new location is smaller than the old space, which was entering its 50th year of operation.

“We are reducing our footprint as far as square footage, but the newer setup allows us to eliminate a ton of wasted space in our present location and be more efficient in clinic flow as well,” he said.

The new Student Health Center is brightly lit with lots of natural lighting — compared to the older, darker health center — helping with the ambiance, Jordan said.

“If you walk into a dungeon-like kind of atmosphere, it kind of adds to the negative feelings you associate with going to the doctor,” Jordan said. “You’re coming to somewhere that’s brightly lit, a lot of natural light, it just gives the feeling that you’re going somewhere you want to go.”

The new Student Health Center is set up in a circular form, which is how highly efficient clinics are set up, Jordan said. He said future plans for the facility involve eventually offering more specialists for students. Currently, the facility only provides one specialist — an Orthopedic clinic — and additional specialists require off-campus referrals.

Oh, I was aware of it..and appalled by the costs I saw on the website. The University I transferred from had included the Wellness clinic in our tuition (which were lower then here by the way) so going to be seen was free, you only pay very small fees for tests and reduced priced meds, which you could put on your student account by the way and typically cost 4-10 dollars. The fees here higher then most regular clinics, which is ridiculous for a university wellness center!

Russell

That is simply not true. One of the biggest benefits of the on campus clinics has bee the low cost of visits and pharmaceutical items.
You need to get your facts straight and stop finding trying to troll a good thing.

LadyCerrydwyn

Well just for an example. The the university I spoke of that I went to before U of H, I walked in, was seen by a doctor, got blood test, flu test, and walked out with antibiotics and two other meds for 10$ with no insurance, which I didn’t even have to pay upfront. It went on my student account. Flu shot was 5!. According the UH’s price list just being seen would be 20-40 with no insurance, this would not include the fees for the blood test, flu test, or medication. Already more expensive. Flu shot is 35. My local non University related clinic has literally done all the same as mentioned for a total of 40$. Which is the higher end of what it would take just to be SEEN at UH. So im not trying to troll a good thing. I’m sure it useful, and all the workers are trying to do good. But for the tuition we pay, it’s still appalling to me to see the costs they charge students. (this inst the clinic peoples faults, but the greedy universities by the way)

UH Student Health Center

This is Rodrick Jordan, Associate Director at the UH Student Health Center. Thank you for your comments. If you would like further clarification, please call 713-743-5151.

Opa

The students are generally unaware of anything they don’t see on social media, looking down at their smart devices as they walk through crosswalks though the signs clearly say DON’T WALK.